Diary
by genieforyourworld
Summary: Mikoto's boys were her entire world. The family name meant nothing. She just wanted to give them what they deserved. To protect them. And Team 7 may have been Sasuke's final hope. /SasuSaku/


**Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. **

_Diary_

* * *

For Mikoto, her two boys where her entire world.

She loved them unconditionally like any mother would. When she would tell Itachi she was disappointed in him when he refused to comply with his fathers orders, or when she scolded Sasuke for doing something such as playing in the mud and came home late with his clothes stained and blatantly denied her accusations.

But boys would be boys. Kids would do things they weren't supposed to. It was inevitable.

Like the sun would set at dusk at rise again at dawn.

She knew that.

And she loved them. They were perfect.

She just didn't think they would grow up so fast.

...

She was still young when she had her first child.

The elder women of the clan warned her that she was the Uchiha matriarch. Her children would succeed the clan, lead the name to even greater heights. She would sacrifice her career for them all.

She agreed with a small smile and a simple nod.

Every night she remembers the twilight. The agony, screaming and pain.

But it would be worth it.

An hour or so later and she found herself alone with no one but her small precious newborn in a room lit by the small flame representing the clan and her baby boy's arrival, and the luminous full moon outside the open window letting in the warming breeze of the early June night.

Fugaku had gone to officially announce Itachi's birth to the village. Her parents were discussing the young Uchiha with her husband's.

But she did not care.

This was _her _family. The last name meant nothing.

The small baby was light in her arms. She never wanted to let him go.

He would no doubt be a handsome man as he grew, and a successful ninja too. She could tell just by looking at him sleep quietly. She had hopes and dreams for him like any woman would for her child.

Yet in the moment of happiness and joy, she was troubled.

Because her little boy would carry a burden like no other.

And she knew it.

...

She was sure that her second was a girl. When anyone asked her the sex, her answer would always be the same.

Their relatives and friends would only buy gifts suitable for a girl by her request.

But even at that mere age, her eldest was a genius.

It was odd really, Itachi was always a quiet child but far too advanced for someone barely five. Yet he was cautious and even more curious during her pregnancy.

But what caught Mikoto completely off guard was one afternoon when the two of them were sorting through clothes and toys about two months before she was due.

"Mother? Why are we going through all this trouble?"

She smiled as his eyes glimmered with curiosity and confusion.

"Well, your sister is going to be a lot of work. All babies are. She is going to need you to look out for her."

It was her turn to look confused as he shook his small head.

"But I'm not getting a sister anytime soon. The baby is a boy. My brother."

...

Sure enough, Itachi had been right.

But Sasuke was entirely unique. Nothing any of them could ever have imagined.

She was on her own when she had him in the hospital. Fugaku had taken Itachi out on a mission to get the boy some extra experience.

She knew that the small baby in her arms would be thought of less by the majority of the can elders - he was their back-up plan.

But unlike with his brother, Sasuke was truly _her_ child. She named him - _the name of a great ninja_ - and not the Uchihas, because he would live all her hopes and dreams. He would succeed in the way she knew Itachi could not.

The light of early dawn slowly burst through the window as her baby gave a (sort of) small smile, too close for comfort in his sleep.

She gave the newborn a content sigh and similar gesture with her own lips as she stroked his tiny cheek with her thumb, properly taking in his beautiful features for the first time.

But, as a mother, there was one duty plaguing her mind at that moment.

She would not fail the younger has she had already done with the elder.

She would not let him suffer because of the clan.

...

Most people she knew with kids and warned her that the eldest would at some point or other express some resentment towards their younger sibling shortly following their birth for various reasons. Mainly the loss of attention.

So she kept an even closer eye on Itachi. If she felt something was up she would ask him, even though she knew he liked keeping to himself and not being in the middle of everything like he usually was.

However, the elder of the two boys silently wanted to be by his younger brother's side twenty-four seven, much to his father's displeasure and the clans' annoyance.

There were days where he asked if he could stay off school or stray from training because he felt he was neglecting his duty as Sasuke's older brother. He felt he was not doing enough no matter what anyone told him.

"You have to go. You are a very unique shinobi. You have to push yourself and be the best." But her husband's words were never enough for their son.

"The bond between me and my brother is _unique_. He is too precious to me."

Looking back she realised that she taught Itachi the most important lesson in his life.

"You will be an obstacle for him to overcome. He is going to need you to get stronger in the future." She smiled at his stubbornness. "Don't worry, Sasuke knows how much you love him and he'll be waiting for you when you come home."

...

The first time she was introduced to Uzumaki Kushina at that formal village function in mid September, the red headed woman could not help but swoon over how adorable Mikoto's almost two month old son looked. But sneaked in a comment about how her own unborn son would literally "kick his pretty boy ass," in about thirteen years time, before boasting about how much she wanted her child to take after his father in looks.

Kushina was a pretty woman - with the heart of a young girl. Yet the Uchiha woman envied at how obvious it was that she did not fit in with 'higher-ups' of the village.

Amongst the prestigious Uchiha powers and the noble Hyuuga heads, Kushina stood out like a sore thumb, but it was amazing how the Hokage's bride-to-be was so comfortable, with not a care in the world about what any of the stuck up snobs in the room thought of her.

But Mikoto knew from personal experience that fairytales did not happen the way anyone wanted them to.

She just didn't realise how bad Kushina's would be.

...

The night the Kyuubi was sealed would be one she would never forget.

Itachi was as white as a sheet afterwards from seeing so much blood and terror and death.

Sasuke had cried all night long.

She was so scared. The thought of what her life would be like with her boys gone, even though Itachi was barely out of infancy and Sasuke being hardly three months, was unbearable.

She had to leave them alone at one point and she remembers the elder child struggling against her grip after a few seconds of her pulling her _(broken) _family minus her husband into a hug. He had told her that he needed to keep his brother safe and that they both loved her dearly. He said that he knew she would return them, but she needed to hurry because Sasuke was too much of a mommy's boy for his own good.

She smiled, feeling the tears prick at the corner of her eyes and kissed both of their foreheads before disappearing _(dying) _into the darkness and horrors that had once been the Hidden Leaf. That had once been her _home_.

...

Itachi had never been the same after that night. It had been as though he had seen a thousand ghosts of his nightmares.

He _changed_.

Then again, so did the younger sibling.

Sasuke grew into a happy young child. It was typical how he would spend hours training in the evening and then return and over dinner tell her about his day at school always mentioning the new tricks and tactics and techniques he learnt and how the girls would not leave him alone.

He made a face when she giggled at him one evening when they were alone.

"What's so funny? I don't get it."

"You'll understand when your older and bring one who leaves you head over heals home."

"Eh? But you're the only girl I'll ever like. But _that_ way! That's just gross."

She laughed at him a little more and flicked his nose in playful manor.

"You'll see I'm right one day."

Another night during dinner, she listened intently as he chatted about the pink haired girl who was paired up with him that day. How she was really nervous and bright red at first but then he helped her with her physical skills showing her how to throw a kunai properly, telling her in was all in wrist and taught her the way his big brother had taught him. Explaining then how she had somehow known the answers to all the questions in the written proportion off the top of her head when _he_ didn't have the slightest clue. "It was kind of annoying. She had the answers before I could think!" Needless to say, the duo had gained the highest results in the class and that he was going to make sure that they were to work together the next day if it killed him.

Fugaku sighed while Itachi smirked when she teased him that this little girl seemed to have a crush on him and he was crushing back.

"NO!"

"I told you. One day. You'll see.

Love is like baby steps. It grows and grows."

"NO MOTHER NO! I'M A NINJA! STOP!"

...

Sasuke's mind worked in way no one but Itachi seemed to comprehend. And no one could understand Itachi. Not anymore. Not even his own mother and father. Not even _her_.

But the brothers' shared an unusual _(special) _bond she worked out overhearing them one day. Itachi's words to his brother would remain implanted in her head forever.

She knew he was suffering on the inside. Something was tearing him apart. He had a choice to make. And he didn't want Sasuke to suffer.

He was always curious, Sasuke, she knew that. After all, he was exactly like her.

He was bright in his own right, yet he continued to strive after his brother, wanting his father to say four words for him, and him alone.

Itachi was Itachi. Difficult.

Sasuke was Sasuke. Far too innocent.

If Sasuke wanted to know something, he would bug everyone until he got an answer.

Like the time he asked about the blonde troublemaking boy in his class at school.

"No one likes him. He's weird. Where's his parents? He's always alone. I suppose that's what he deserves for being an idiot."

She had a feeling she knew who he was talking about. "Who, sweetheart?"

"Uzumaki Naruto."

Fugaku told him to go to his room.

Like that time, where Sasuke kept his mouth shut about the boy from then on, he knew not to say anything about the growing tension between his brother and his father.

Mikoto knew he was troubled. She just did not realize it until he asked her about his father.

She instinctively saw all the hidden questions behind his words. But he was far to young to know, to _understand_, the politics of the Uchiha clan.

...

She couldn't say she was surprised when her son finally faced her.

At that point Fugaku was not in the room.

"I'm proud of you. Look after Sasuke, will you."

Silence…One…Two…Three… _(Her husband runs in shock, horror and disbeief)… _Four…Fi-

"I will."

The last thing she saw _(she was sure) _as his filthy blade struck her, was the cloudiness of his smouldering onyx eyes.

* * *

"_A child, like your stomach, doesn't need all you can afford to give it."  
__**-Frank A. Clark**_

* * *

Watching both of her boys _(right there beside them - yet so far away) _was heart wrenching.

_After so long. _So many years she watched them suffer - Sasuke abandoning his friends _(to protect them from the lies he had been fed) _and Itachi's lies and torture _(to die with honour and protect the one dear thing he had left). _

_Because they loved each other._

But when Itachi finally let out his last breath at his brothers hand, she smiled contently after so long.

...

After all his struggles and tortures he'd endured, from Itachi to Orochimaru to Madara, Sasuke finally returned home. To his team-mates. To his friends. To his _family_.

At first, she watched as his former teacher took him in. The man who truly acted as a father should to his son.

Then there was that same pink haired kunoichi who wasn't _so_ annoying anymore. She who had healed and treated all his wounds and threatened to pummel anyone who looked at him in the wrong way with her incredible strength (after she broke his jaw for leaving to begin with).

And of course, Naruto, who was so much like his mother (with his dad's looks). Mikoto had to admire the boy. All he went through when he was younger. How he was so determined to save her precious little boy. His best friend. His _brother_.

* * *

"_All of us failed to match our dreams of perfection. So I rate us on the basis of our splendid failure to do the impossible."  
__**-William Faulkner**_

* * *

When Haruno Sakura accompanied Sasuke to the old worn down Uchiha compound, she did not know what to expect.

The seventeen year old had been shocked when she was abruptly pulled from her duties at the hospital by the Uchiha with no indication to what he wanted her for.

It was only when they were half way to their destination did she threaten to break each one of his ribs individually in the most painful way possible if he did not tell her where he was dragging her to. Reluctantly he let go of the (possessive) hold on her wrist and said quietly that he needed 'advice' renovating the compound. It was too big for one person alone.

She sighed and decided that he needed the company. He needed a friend.

When they arrived at the large gates, he stepped in without so much as a flinch. However, she remained frozen in her tracks.

Not hearing the footsteps following him, Sasuke turned to see what was holding the kunoichi up.

"You coming?"

His words pulled her out of her trance and she quickly sprinted to his side.

He led her up to what she assumed to be the main house and opened the deflecting door.

She realised at first glance, who ever had lived there must have had a well off lifestyle despite the dull colour code which had light old decorations she assumed had been placed by the owner's wife to brighten the place up.

She noticed her former team mate flinch uncharacteristically as he trudged down the corridor.

She pursued him slowly until a single dust covered frame on a stand with an empty vase caught her wandering eye.

When Sakura wiped away the thick dust, her emerald eyes widened in surprise as she realised who had once lived in the grand house.

Her attention first caught the small, not much older than seven years old _happy _boy. The same face that had plagued her dreams and nightmares for as long as she could remember.

That smile…

She moved upwards next, to the woman who had her hand on Sasuke's shoulder. The resemblance between mother and son was uncanny.

Sakura thought that she was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen and instantly knew that Sasuke had inherited his good looks from her. The same bluish-black hair, remarkable onyx eyes and that same smile…

They looked happy, until she saw the emotionless yet calm expression on Itachi's face and the stern features of his father.

"That was a long time ago."

"Uh…"

His arms encircled her, and placing his hands on her wrists, guided them back down to the table, allowing her to put down the nostalgic photograph.

He released his grip on her right arm but remained (not as roughly as before) in contact with her left.

He led her along the long corridors and winding passage ways until they came to what she assumed to be the master bedroom due to its wide walls and the large bed in the centre.

Sasuke told her to wait by the bed for the moment while he went to retrieve something. She took the opportunity to take in fascinating room. It was certainly different than the room that her parents shared, it wasn't as welcoming or as cosy. Instead, this room was elegant, cold and faded due there being no habitants for nearly a decade.

One thing that attracted her searching gaze, was the large book placed neatly on the bed-side table.

As curious as she was, she took a hold of it and blew the dust off the cover. It was very fancy and must have cost a fortune she realised as she stroked the hard, elegant and appealing cover. The word _Diary_ was written in small golden font about a quarter of the way down and Sakura's speculations were confirmed as she opened it while she sat down.

It was indeed the diary of Uchiha Mikoto. Sasuke's mother.

The teenager skimmed read the genteel black ink on various pages, turning each fragile slice of paper with care and studying the odd photos of the woman, her friends, her husband, of her kids growing up.

She had to admit, Sasuke was indeed a very cute baby. She could not prevent the small giggle from escaping her lips.

Sakura felt a wave of empathy for her former team-mate's mother. The woman had accounted everything from her engagement at fifteen to a man five years her senior - who was expected bring great success to the clan, to her sons' births and every little detail of their upbringings, right up to approximately a week before she was killed.

Mikoto was a princess trapped in her own home.

"You can keep that if you want. I don't need it."

She really wished he'd stop doing that.

"What do you mean?" She asked as he sat down beside her, carrying a large number of scrolls and sheets of paper. Blueprints, she analysed.

"Its not even half full and I have no use for it. Shame to let it go to waste, I thought you'd like it."

That caught her off guard. "Thanks," she whispered drooping her head so her pink hair covered the small blush forming across her cheeks.

"So…" he trailed, in an attempt to change the subject. _It must be painful for him… _she thought, after all, the beautiful book accounted the life that was stolen from him.

She watched carefully, studying his every movement, as he unravelled one of the documents that contained his legacy.

The roll was large and so he spread it across the bed. For a moment he stared searchingly at it.

Sakura realised it was the house they were in.

After a few moments, his long index finger pointed to a room towards the back of the house. "We're here," he said simply.

She scrunched her eyebrows for a second deep in thought.

"Okay?"

He smirked, amused by her naïve attitude despite her status as one of the village's top female ninja.

"What? I really don't get why your showing me this." His smirk grew, realising that he was irritating her now.

Sasuke sighed as he reached into his trouser pocket. "Guess I should have given you this first after all. Maybe that weirdo replacement isn't as stupid as he looks."

"Sai? What the hell are you on about?"

"Well considering you seem to like my mom's stuff, I thought you'd want her room as well. Also, this…"

"Huh?"

Shaking his head, he finally pulled his hand out of his pocket, balled into a fist.

"Sasuke if your not going to tell me why you really dragged me down here when I could be saving someone's life, then I'm going to beat it out of you!"

"Marry me."

"And then, when I'm done I'm going to… Wait! _What?" _

"I want you to marry me."

It wasn't a question.

Mind boggled for at least five minutes, her emerald eyes locked on his onyx orbs, she gained the courage to speak.

"Did you and Naruto _illegally_ go drinking _again_?"

Sure they were young, but still, Sasuke had been inwardly pinning after the kunoichi for a while, he just hadn't come to terms with his emotions until Naruto, Kakashi and even Sai began teasing him one morning during training.

But he wasn't exactly sure what compelled him to this annoying, naïve, temper mental, violent, crazy, strong, intelligent, beautiful woman.

He was (sort of) proposing and she thought he was drunk!

"No, Naruto is just hyped up on ramen," he sighed again.

"Then…"

"I love you."

He un-balled his fist to show her the small Uchiha emblem made up of diamonds and rubies attached to a gold band.

Sakura just gaped at the last Uchiha. That boy had some class...

* * *

**Finally managed to finish this. Yet I did want to go back to Mikoto's POV at the end, so I may add an epilogue or sequel later, but I want to get back to the second story in **_**More Than a Fairytale… **_

**Please review **

**xx.**


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